Apparatus and method for collecting flexible sheets



A. R. STOBB June 8, 1965 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COLLECTING FLEXIBLE SHEETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 19, 1962 INVENTR:

June 8, 1965 51-055 3,188,082

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COLLECTING FLEXIBLE SHEETS Filed April 19, 1962 k 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR hwy I n I ANTON R.STOBB 3388,4932 APKARATUE; AND METHGD non CULLECTENG FLEXihLE SHEET Anton RStohh, Racine, Wis. {P.fl. Box 52ll5, Clinton, NJ.) Filed Apr. 1?, Edit, Ser. No. 183,726 11 tClaims. (till. 271-68) This invention relates to an apparatus collecting flexible sheets.

.Various sheet collectors have been designed and constructed for the purpose of receiving flexible sheets, such as printed matter, from a printing press or the like such that a belt or other conveyor can pass under the discharge end of a printing press and have the sheets fall onto the belt in an overlapped or imbricated disposition. r The general purpose of these collectors is to convey the printed sheets to a platform or box where the sheets can be stripped off the conveyor and disposed in a stacked alignment so that they can be then removed from the box and bundled or otherwise readily handled.

Theprior art devices have been concerned with the problems of disposing the sheets on the conveyor and transferring them to thebox in the proper orientation so that they can be directly stripped off the conveyor and into the box, and also the sheets must be well aligned in the and method for 4 United States Patent box so that additional manual handling for alignment,

such as additional jogging of the sheets, is not required, and still further the collector must operate at a speed equivalent to that of the high-speed printing press, and

still further attention has been given to the handling of tor wherein the sheets can be most accuratelystacked in an aligned relation in a box or on a platform so that they can be readily removed in a neat stack from the box or platform, and also so that only a minimum of attention is required in the operation of the collector and in the removal of'the stack.

Still another object of this invention is to accomplish the foregoing objects and overcome the aforementioned problems and to do so with a collector and in a means wherein only a minimum of space is required and a maximum of accessibility to the collector is provided. In accomplishing this particular object, specifically the invention shows the conveyor coming into the collector to be in a path adjacent the location of the box or platform 3,l88,82 Patented June 8, 1965 form without any resistance from the stack already in the box or on the platform.

The foregoing and other objects will become more readily apparent when the following description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred collector of this invention, and with the view being taken along the lines 11 of FIG. 2 and showing a fragment of the apparatus. i v

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1. V

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the powertrains and driven parts of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or included therein according to the following description.

The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views. The apparatus will be described and the attending method will also be mentioned and will be appreciated from the description of the apparatus. v

Side plates 10 and T1 are spaced apart with a first conveyor l2 and a second conveyor 13 disposed between the sideplates to move in the direction shown by the arrows designated A. Thus it will generally be understood that flexible sheets or signatures indicated 14 can be printed matter which has come from a printing press (not shown) so that the sheets 14 are dropped from the press and'onto a conveyor such as the conveyor 12 and they are moved through the apparatus shown in the direction of the arrows A to where the sheets 14 are ultimately formed in theealigned stack of sheets on the fixed platform 16. Thus the sheets 14 are held between the conveyors l2 and 13 as they move around the drums or rollers 17 and are moved ina stream designated S downwardly onto the platform 16 where they are stripped from the conveyor 13 and are placed in the shownstacked relation on the platform 16. v

The details of the apparatus will now be described, and it will of course be appreciated that the conveyor 12 is operated at a lower level so that it can support the sheets 14- as they are dropped directly onto the conveyor 12 to be disposed in the imbricated relation shown, and then the sheets are turned somewhat upside down as they come in the stream S and are placed into the box or onto the conveyor under the platfornrlo. The platform 16 is therefore readily accessible to an attendant who will of course take the stack of sheets from the platform and tie them if'heso desires. It will of course be seen that the platform 16 is disposed at an inclined angle with respect to the horizontal, and the conveyor 13 is also so dis"- posed such that the incoming stream S is generally transverse to the plane of the platform 16. This relation therefor assembling the stack of sheets and'with the latter being above the location of the incoming conveyor so that the entire unit is compact and also the platform is readily accessible without any part being disposed thereabove to interfere with removal of the stack from the platform.

Still anotherobject of this invention is to provide apparatus and a method for collecting and stacking flexible sheets in a well-aligned and compact stack. In accomplishing this object, and also even in providing for another object, the sheets are conveyed and stacked with a minimum of damage thereto and without requiring any support for the sides and front and top of the stack in the box or on the platform. Still further, the power required for moving the sheets into the box or on the platform is a minimum amount, since in the particular invention the incoming stream of sheets is'brought to the platfore permits the sheets 14 to remain in the orientation shown in FIG. 1 with the assistance of a pushing device to be described later.

The conveyor 12 is shown to consist of a plurality of belts 18 and these belts are trained over pulleys 19 mounted on shafts 21 rotatably mounted in the sides to and ill. Also the drawings show that the belts 18 extend over pulley 22 which is mounted on the shaft 23. The latter is shown supported on an arm 24 secured by a bolt 26 to the side member 1t and thus the arm 24 and shaft 23 are pivotable about the axis of the bolt 26 to provide for movement of the belts 18.

It will be further understood that actually the conveyor 12 is shown to'consist of four belts, the two belts 18 arrangement, only the two belts 18 continue around the circumference of the rollers or drums 17, as shown in FIG. 2, and likewise the conveyor 13 has only two belts 28 included therein and these belts 28 of course overlap with the belts 18 to hold the signatures therebetween as they travel around on the belts and the drums 17. The significance of this belting arrangement is that since the signatures are generally of a width corresponding to the spaced-apart distance of the four belts of the conveyor 12, that is the distance spanned by the belts 27, when the signatures come into the position of the stream S, the edges designated 29 Will overhang the two central belts 28 and the signatures will therefore be curved around an axis defined and determined by the direction of travel of the stream S. This, therefore.

curves the leading edges designated 31 of the signatures 14- and such curvature provides for desired stiffness and stability to the signatures as they abut the platform 16. Thus, in the direct and effective but yet uncomplicated manner, the incoming stream of the signatures is curved as desired for stiffness when abutting the platform 16 so that the signatures can be properly stripped from the conveyor 13 and stacked on the platform 16.

Of course it will also be noted that the drums or rollers 17 are rotatably mounted on the shaft 32 which extends between the sides and 11. Thus the drums 17 are supported by ball bearings 36 on the shaft 32. f A reciprocal member or pusher 37 is also supported on the shaft 32 by ball bearings 38 and it extends from the shaft 32 down to and around a shaft 39 which is rotatably mounted in the opposite sides 10 and 11. Thus FIG. 2 shows a ball bearing 41 mounting one end of the shaft 39 in the collector side 11, and of course the opposite end would be similarly mounted in the side 10. It will further be noted that the shaft 39 includes an eccentric central portion 42 about which the member 37 is disposed with a ball bearing 4-3 therebetween. Thus the member 37 has an oval-shaped opening 44 for receiving the ball bearing 43 with the smaller dimension of the oval being the diameter of the outer race of the bearing 43.

With this arrangement, it will therefore be understood that upon rotation of the shaft 39 about the axis of the end 46 will cause the eccentric portion 42 to orbit the axis of the portion 46 and thus displace the bearing 43 orbitally with respect to the end 46. Likewise then, the member 37 will be displaced where the bearing 43 engages the edge defining the opening 44 in the member 37. This of course is only in the direction transverse to the center line between the shafts 39 and 32 since the major axis of the oval 44 is also along that center line. Therefore, the member 37 will reciprocate in the direction perpendicular to the center line mentioned and this will therefore move the member 37 toward and away from the incoming stream S of the signatures.

It will further be noted that the reciprocal member 37 has a plate 47 attached as a part thereof so that the plate is disposed to provide a backing for the belt 28 and also so that the plate displaces the belt 28 when the shaft 39 is rotated to induce the reciprocating action described. Of course, the reciprocal member 37 is actually shown to consist of the two arms 37 and since they are rotatably mounted about the shaft 32, the axis of the latter serves as the pivot point for the member 37 in its reciprocating action described.

The arms 37 also have an extended end 48 which supports a shaft 49 where, in turn, the two pulleys 51 are mounted for guiding the belt 28 thereover as shown. Thus the displacement of the member 37 likewise causes the pulleys 51 to be displaced and the belts 28 are therefore also reciprocated.

The important feature of the invention is the reciprocation described and it will thus be mentioned that the platform 16 has an opening 52 which receives the plate 47 and thereby provides clearance for the latter and the belt 26 to move in the direction of the longitudinal axis or plane of the platform 16. This movement induced by the eccentric 4-2 causes the reciprocal member 37 to push on the stack on the platform 16 and displace the latter upwardly along the platform so that a clearance indicated C is constantly provided between the last or lowest sheet in the stack and the incoming stream S.

This is highly desirable so that the incoming stream will of course have freedom of moving into the stack as it abuts the platform 16 without interference from the stack and at the same time the pusher with plate 47 jostles the stack and presses thereon a sufficient amount to cause the stack to be neatly and compactly arranged on the platform 16. Thus the speedof reciprocation of the means 37 is such that the stack cannot overcome its inertia and speed of gravity and friction against the plaftorm 16 and the air resistance to cause it to fall against the incoming stream S. That is, the reciprocation is too fast to permit the stack to fall against the stream and thus the clearance is always available as desired, except at the moment of contact with the stack.

FIG. 3 shows a driving shaft 5-6 with a driving pulley 57 and a driving chain or the like 58 extending around the pulley 57 and to a pulley 59 mounted on the shaft 39. Thus the drivers 56 and 57 operate at a speed sufficient to rotate the shaft 39 for the frequency of reciprocation sufficient to maintain the stack clear of the stream as mentioned. Of course the shaft 56 and pulley 57 can be rotatably mounted on the side 10 or 11 of the collector.

At this time it will also be noted that a driving shaft 61 is rotatably mounted with two pulleys, one pulley 62 being shown, so that two belts 63 and 64 are driven off the shaft 61. One belt 63 extends to a pulley 66 mounted on the shaft 32 and this therefore induces the rotation to the shaft 32. With the shaft 32 thus being rotated, a pulley 67 keyed to the shaft 32 is also rotated. A belt 68 is thus trained over the pulley 67 and a pulley 69 on the shaft 49 to induce rotation of the latter. This therefore causes the pulleys 51 to rotate since they are keyed to the shaft 49 and this provides the drive to the conveyor 13.

Referring again to the belt 64 of FIG. 3, it will be noted that it extends to a pulley 71 which is mounted on a shaft 72 and thus the shaft 72 is rotated and this in turn rotates a pulley 73 over which the two belts 18 are re spectively trained and are therefore driven by the rotation of the two pulleys 73, one of which is shown. Since the pulleys 51 and 73 are of the same diameter and are also both driven off the same diameter pulleys 62, of course the linear speed of the conveyors 12 and 13 is the same.

Referring again to the platform 16, it will be noted that the platform is shown to be at approximately a thirty degree angle with respect to the horizontal and the platform is supported upon a C channel or beam 76 by means of welding W. Also two screws, one screw 77 only being shown, are threaded through the platform 16 andthe legs of the beam 76, and the lower end of the screws 77 abut a stop 78 which is affixed to the side 10. Of course there would be two screws 77 and two stops 78 as indicated. In this manner, the platform 16 can be raised and lowered along the axis of the screws 77 to accommodate longer or shorter signatures as desired.

Also, to guide the platform 16, two flat bars, one bar 79 being shown, are secured by welding indicated W to the respective sides 10 and 11 of the collector. FIG. 2 shows a bar 78 disposed on the side 11 and an opening 81 in the edge of the platform 16 receives the bar or guide 79 to both guide and secure the platform 16 as desired. Thus the platform 16 can be adjusted up and down along the bars 79 with the latter serving as supports and guides.

A further feature of the invention is that the shaft 23 has a brush 82 mounted thereon for rotation along with the pulley 22 so that the brush engages the tail edges of the signatures 14 and causes them to move away from the drum 17 and thus become more aligned in a straight path upon entry of the platform 16. The brush 82 is of course mounted in any conventional mamnner on the shaft 23 to be rotated by the latter along with thepulleys 23 so that the bristles of the brush engage the tail end of the sheets 14 and place them into the position shown in FIG. 1 where the one full length of signature 14 is shown. Thus the one length of signature 14 extends from the platform 16 and up to the brush 82 where the latter engages the tail end to rotate it or sweep it away from the conveyor 13 and into a relatively straight plane free from the conveyor so that the sheets can virtuallydrop down in a free fall onto the platform 16.

Thus the arrangement is such that the reciprocal means 37 pushes the lower ends of the signatures 14 toward the stack on the platform and thus away from the conveyor belts 13 while the brush 82 brushes the upper edges of the signatures 14 away from the conveyor 13. Thisleaves the signatures 14 in a freely suspended position or virtually so, and the signatures are then free to become well aligned in the desired manner in the stack on the plat-' form 16. Of course it will now also be recognized that the platformld is vertically adjustable to adjust for the desired length of signatures 14 so that the trailing edges of the signatures will be engaged by the brush 82. Also, the pusher plate 47 thus engages, only the lower ends of the signatures'14 and the plane of the upper edge of the stack on the platform is thus above the axis of the affixed shaft 32 so that the plate 47 is displacing only the selected lower edges of the signatures rather than vibrating the full length of the signatures 14. e

While a specific embodiment of the apparatus and a specific method have been shown and described, it should be obvious that certain changes could be made therein and the invention should therefore be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A collector for flexible sheets comprising a rotatable support disposed for rotation about a fixed axis, an eccentric member rotatably mounted on an axis parallel to said fixed axis and with the eccentric movement being transverse to said axes, a pusher member with the ends thereof respectively rotatably mounted on said support and said eccentric member and having clearance between said eccentric memberand said pusher member for displacement of the latter only in an arcuate path centered about said support and with said pusher member including a plate disposed in a plane oblique to said path, a pulley rotatably mounted on said eccentric member at the end thereof opposite said support from said eccentric member, a conveyor belt trained on said support and said pulley and extending on said plate to have the latter disposed to the inside with respect to the extent of said conveyor belt, a platform disposed adjacent said plate and said conveyor belt for receiving sheets from the latter when said conveyor belt passes said platform, and drive means for rotating said eccentric and displace said plate to push said sheets along said platform and away from said conveyor belt.

2. A collector for flexible sheets comprising a rotatable support disposed for rotation about a fixed axis, an eccentric member rotatably mounted on an axis parallel to said fixed axis and with the eccentric movement being transverse to saidaxes, a pusher member with the ends thereof respectively rotatably mounted on said support and said I said conveyor belt, a platform disposed adjacent said conveyor belt and said ofiset portion for receiving sheets from said conveyor when the latter passes said platform,

and drive means for rotating said eccentric and displace said offset portion to push said sheets along said platform and away from said conveyor belt.

3. In a method of collecting and stacking flexible sheets disposed on a conveyor and moved edgewise in a stream and into a stacked relation of an aligned stack adjacent said stream, the inventive steps comprising forming said stack in a direction of and at an upwardly inclined angle with respect to the horizontal, and reciprocally displacing said stream adjacent said stack and in the direction of the longitudinal axis of said stack and displacing the latter upwardly at a speed su'fiicient to be faster than said stack can fall against said stream and to provide a clearance between said stack and said stream for entrance into said stack of the incoming sheets of said stream.

4. in a method of collecting and stacking flexible sheetsdisposed on a conveyor and moved edgewise in a stream and into a stacked relation of an aligned stack adjacent said stream, the inventive steps comprising moving said stream at an angle with respect to the vertical and supporting said sheets only at their underneath central' portions so to have the side portions overhang and thereby be disposed downwardly too curve said sheets about their path of movement, forming said stack in a direction of and at an upwardly inclined angle transverse to said stream, and reciprocally displacing said stream adjacent said stack and in the direction of the longitudinal axis of said stack and displacing the latter upwardly along said inclined angle and at a speed sufiicient to be faster than said stack can fall against said stream to provide a clearance between said'stack and said stream for entrance into said stack of the incoming sheets of said stream.

5. In a method of collecting and stacking flexible sheets disposed on a conveyor andmoved edgewise in a stream and into a stacked relation of an aligned stack adjacent said stream on a collecting platform, the inventive steps comprising setting said platform at a position determined by the length of said sheets and at an upwardly inclined angle, forming said stack on said platform by moving said stream to the lower end of said platform and intercepting the lower ends of said sheets on said platform, reciprocal- 1y displacing said stream adjacent said stack and in the direction of the longitudinal axis of said stack and displacing the latter upwardly at a speed suificient to be faster than said stack can fall against said stream and to provide a clearance between said stack and said stream for entrance into said stack of the incoming sheets of said stream, and moving the upper ends of said sheets toward 'said stack and out of said stream.

6. A collector for flexible sheets comprising a platform disposed at an inclined angle with respect to the horizontal and having a sheet inlet end at the lower end thereof, a first belt conveyor extending below the plane of said platform in a horizontal direction and around said inlet end to a position thereabove, a second belt conveyor overlying said first belt conveyor and extending therebeyond downwardly to said inlet end and there past for transporting an incoming stream of flexible sheets to said platform in. a direction transverse to the plane of said platform for conveying flexible sheets onto said platform in an aligned stack at one face of said second belt conveyor, and reciprocal means disposed adjacent said second belt conveyor at the location thereof opposite said one face at said inlet end of said platform and being movable toward and away from the longitudinal direction of said stack for maintaining the latter upwardly and off said conveyor and free of said incoming stream.

a second belt conveyor overlying said first belt conveyor and extending therebeyond downwardly to said inlet end and therebelow for transporting said incoming stream of flexible sheets to said platform in a direction transverse to said inclined angle of said platform for conveying flexible sheets onto said platform in an aligned stack at one face of said second belt conveyor.

8. A collector for flexible sheets comprising a platform disposed at an inclined angle with respect to the horizontal and including a sheet inlet end at the lower end of said platform, a conveyor having a portion extending downwardly to said inlet end and being at an angle oblique to the plane of said platform and being disposed at an angle with respect to the vertical plane to be below and thereby to upwardly support flexible sheets thereabove for transporting said flexible sheets to said platform in an overhanging mannner to bend said sheets about their axes of transportation and for delivering said flexible sheets onto said platform in an aligned stack, the width of said portion of said conveyor being less than the width of said platform for permitting said flexible sheets of the width of said platform to overhang on said portion of said conveyor and thereby be bent about said axes, and means for moving said stack on said platform in the direction away from said inlet end. i

9. A collector for flexible sheets comprising a platform disposed at an inclined angle with respect to the horizontal and having an inlet end at the lower end of said platform, a conveyor extending from above to below said inlet end and entirely therepast for transporting an incoming stream of flexible sheets to said inlet end in a direction transverse to said inclined angle of said platform for conveying flexible sheets onto said platform in an aligned stack at one face of said conveyor, and reciprocal means disposed adjacent said conveyor at the opposite face thereof in the entire extent past said inlet end of said platform and being in abutment with said entire extent and being reciprocable toward and away from the longitudinal direction of said stack for displacing said entire extent and maintaining said stack upwardly on said platform and off said conveyor and free of said incoming stream.

ltLA collector for flexible sheets comprising a platform disposed at an upwardly inclined angle with respect to the horizontal and having an inlet end at the lower end of said platform, a conveyor for transporting an incoming stream of flexible sheets downwardly to said inlet end of said platform in a direction transverse to the plane of said platform for conveying flexible sheets onto said platform in an aligned stack at one face of said conveyor and said conveyor extending past said inlet end, reciprocal means disposed adjacent said conveyor at, the opposite face and extending portion thereof at the lower end of said stack and being movable toward and away from the longitudinal direction of said stack for maintaining the latter upwardly and off said extending portion of said conveyor and free of said incoming stream, and a rotatable brush disposed above said stack for engaging the trailing edges of said sheets and displacing same away from said conveyor.

11. A method of collecting flexible sheets into a stack having an inlet end for stacking said sheets, the steps comprising disposing and supporting said sheets at least generally horizontally and in an imbricated and stream relation, moving said sheets in the line of their stream relation and below said stack where they are collected, further moving said sheets in an arc in their stream relation by moving them first upwardly to a position above the level of said stack and then moving them downwardly to said stack to invert said sheets in the arcuate movement, and stopping said sheets in their movement in said stream and stacking said sheets in aligned relation in the direction transverse to said stream and in an inclined plane extending upwardly from said inlet end to said stack, and moving said stack up said inclined plane and clear of said stream for free movement of said sheets into said stack.

References Eited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 361,262 4/87 Campbell 27172 1,793,953 2/31 DHumy et a1. 271 X 2,053,315 9/36 Barnecott 27168 2,933,313 4/60 Stobb 271-68 3,062,537 11/62 Hanstein et al. z 27171 FOREIGN PATENTS 946,734 6/49 France.

740,191 10/43 Germany.

343,345 2/31 Great Britain.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, SAMUEL F. COLEMAN,

Examiners. 

1. A COLLECTOR FOR FLEXIBLE SHEETS COMPRISING A ROTATABLE SUPPORT DISPOSED FOR ROTATION ABOUT A FIXED AXIS, AN ECCENTRIC MEMBER ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON AN AXIS PARALLEL TO SAID FIXED AXIS AND WITH THE ECCENTRIC MOVEMENT BEING TRANSVERSE TO SAID AXES, A PUSHER MEMBER WITH THE ENDS THEREOF RESPECTIVELY ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT AND SAID ECCENTRIC MEMBER AND HAVING CLEARANCE BETWEEN SAID ECCENTRIC MEMBER AND SAID PUSHER MEMBER FOR DISPLACEMENT OF THE LATTER ONLY IN AN ARCUATE PATH CENTERED ABOUT SAID SUPPORT AND WITH SAID PUSHER MEMBER INCLUDING A PLATE DISPOSED IN A PLANE OBLIQUE TO SAID PATH, A PULLEY ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID ECCENTRIC MEMBER AT THE END THEREOF OPPOSITE SAID SUPPORT FROM SAID ECCENTRIC MEMBER, A CONVEYOR BELT TRAINED ON SAID SUPPORT AND SAID PULLEY AND EXTENDING ON SAID PLATE TO HAVE THE LATTER DISPOSED TO THE INSIDE WITH RESPECT TO THE EXTENT OF SAID CONVEYOR BELT, A PLATFORM DISPOSED ADJACENT SAID PLATE AND SAID CONVEYOR BELT FOR RECEIVING SHEETS FROM THE LATTER WHEN SAID CONBEYOR BELT PASSES SAID PLATFORM, AND DRIVE MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ECCENTRIC AND DISPLACE SAID PLATE TO PUSH SAID SHEETS ALONG SAID PLATFORM AND AWAY FROM SAID CONVEYOR BELT. 